California Targets Illicit Cannabis Activity With New Financial Strategy, Program Kicks Off In Fresno

California has unveiled a new program designed to clamp down on illicit cannabis activity, targeting perpetrators where it hurts most: their wallets.

The move seeks to stop the ongoing damage to the environment, workers and legal cannabis businesses caused by underground operations.

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About The Program

Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) announced the Cannabis Administrative Prosecutor Program (CAPP) on Tuesday. He stated the initiative aims to work with local governments, offering them state support to counter illegal cannabis on two main fronts: as a public nuisance and a land-use issue. He stressed, “That’s what our shared constituents expect of us — to team up,” reported Courthouse News.

Bonta elaborated on the issues presented by illegal cannabis operations. Some rogue producers use highly toxic chemicals, while others scatter forests with industry waste. There's also the human cost; workers are sometimes trafficked and exploited.

Partnering with Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz, AG Bonta announced that Fresno is the first city to join the program to curb illegal activities, which includes issuing citations, dispatching violation notices and orders to cease illicit operations.

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Illicit operators who disregard these directives could face severe repercussions, including eradication of their unauthorized growth and halting their retail and manufacturing processes. “The underground cannabis market, larger than the legal market, hurts those who choose to operate legally,” said Bonta. 

Janz agreed. “It’s like the illegal market has taken a bat to the legal market’s bottom line, which in turn hurts the city's coffers.”

Protecting Community And Increasing Revenue

The CAPP program seeks to be financially self-sufficient. Through partnerships like the one with Fresno, California's Department of Justice plans to recover costs via fines, administrative orders, settlements, enforcement actions and liens. If Fresno recoups any money exceeding the program’s expenditure, the city can keep it.

“Our partnership is aimed at assisting the local legitimate cannabis industry and helping grow Fresno’s tax base. It is my hope that this first-of-a-kind joint venture between the Fresno city attorneys and the Office of the Attorney General will be a model for other large cities," said Janz. "For far too long, these underground operations have targeted children and minors without fear of retribution. This inventive new approach will seek to put an end to that.”

Janz said they're keeping an eye on illegal hookah lounges as well as smoke and tobacco shops. “Yes, we are targeting these folks,” he confirmed. “We’re ready today. We want to start immediately.”

To bolster these efforts, the Justice Dept, via its Cannabis Control Section, will back Fresno by offering attorneys who will function as administrative prosecutors in local administrative bodies.

Aiding investigations will be the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) program. Initially operational on a seasonal basis, EPIC shifted to a year-round program in 2022, focusing on illegal cannabis cultivation's economic, environmental, and labor exploitation consequences.
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Bonta remains optimistic about the prospects of the legal cannabis industry, despite current challenges. “We’re at the beginning of making the legal cannabis marketplace successful,” he concluded.

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Image by El Planteo